The present invention relates to devices for planting seed, and, in particular, a control system for providing discrete row controlled planting of seed with air operated seed planters.
Fluid actuated, air and vacuum, planters are frequently used in agriculture for the planting of individuals seeds in multiple rows in a single traverse of a field. Therein, the fluid activates a seed metering unit that drops one seed at a time into a furrow. For irregularly shaped fields or narrow plots or fields having waterways or other barriers precluding continuous planting, it is desirable to deactivate the planter at such row discontinuities in order to minimize the cost of overseeding.
Various approaches have been taken in the art to allow the planter operator to temporarily deactivate a bank of seed dispensers, generally by exiting the tractor and manually closing a valve to disable a portion of the planter. This inconvenience has resulted in seed planters that may be controlled by the operator from the tractor cab. In one system, the plants is provided with a mechanically based system using clutches for terminating rotation at the planter unit. The clutches are generally placed in the middle of the planter to disable one side of the unit. Plural clutches have been proposed to disable select portions of each side of the unit. The clutches, however, require permanent modification to the planter, and are costly to install and maintain. Further, the clutches disable the wheel driven drive shaft, and accordingly disable all feeder units between successive clutches, such that banks or four or more units are usually disabled. It has not been possible to disable only select planter units.
Certain fluid actuated planter units have a common manifold to which individual pneumatic lines are connected at each unit. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,785 to Schrage et al, a butterfly valve in the manifold blocks the air flow to select portions, generally one side or the other or the outboard units on each side. The installation of such valve requires a costly permanent modification to the manifold. Also, bypass flow past the butterfly valve can maintain sufficient pressure or vacuum to prevent deactivation as desired, resulting in overseeding. The valves are typically arrayed to control multiple rows, rather than discrete rows, with the result that optimum seeding pattern cannot be realized.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a seed planter control systems that controls individual planting rows and row length, controlled from the tractor, and does not require extensive and costly modification of the planter structure.
The present invention provide a row control system for a fluid operated seed planter wherein individual units can be enable or disabled by the operator without leaving the tractor. This is achieved by interposing actuator controlled ball valves in the feed lines between the individual units and the manifold. The valves are connected to a tractor control box whereat switches may be actuated to move the valves between open and closed positions. The control units do not require permanent modifications to the planter. The control units may be furnished in kit form, attached to existing structure with adaptive brackets, and connected using existing fluid lines. An operator may select a seeding pattern of individual rows and row length best suited for the field to be planted, thereby maximizing acreage and minimizing double seeding.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide fluid actuated seed planter wherein planting individual rows may be selectively controlled by an operator.
Another object of the invention is to provide a vacuum operated seed planter wherein a supplemental valve is interposed between the vacuum source and individual row planters.
A further object of the invention is to provide a row controller for a seed planter that may be installed without structural modification, and using all existing components.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a component package that may be utilized to provide a seed planter with discrete row planting control.